


By the light of the night

by Pangolinia



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Sharing a Bed, Stargazing, Trapped
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26702503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pangolinia/pseuds/Pangolinia
Summary: For the entire night, just the two of them. Felix and Bernadetta. Bernadetta and Felix. Strange bedmates, no matter how she arranged the names. And bedmates they would be, with no bed in sight.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Bernadetta von Varley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	By the light of the night

"I told her to come to training," Felix groused and gazed at the brunette songstress, who danced on her tiptoes on the sandy ground, carelessly stirring up dust that dappled his boots. No, careless, appeared fallacious since each word and gesture subsumed to one primary objective; draw diversion from his aversion. Dorothea deliberately, for reasons passing understanding, tripped on a volcano likely to erupt at any time. "So I could tell her to come to training more regularly."

"Hmm..., of course, you did." Spinning in an elegant pirouette, Dorothea beamed at him while her dancer costume lashed through the air. A red, white and golden whirlwind of disaster and trouble ripping through his countenance. Finally, her performance stopped, with the pointy end of her blade resting against his heart. "Could have fooled me with that one. That is if you wouldn't blush like a maiden fair whenever I mention our shy bear, General Fe."

"Fine, if you want to fight," the swordmaster spat, ignored the nickname as well as the burning sensation that tingled his cheeks and used the wooden Wo Dao replica to cast Dorothea's brusquely aside. "Then you have found your opponent."

Annoyed, Felix brandished his sword at the elusive dancer without waiting for another provocation. Dorothea dodged with ease, swivelled and bowed mockingly at his initial attempt. "You know, Fe, you could always ask Bernie-Bear out for a date. One that doesn't include swords and dirt, only to see her breathlessly and sweaty on the floor."

With a flip of his sword, Felix struck the aggravating songstress on her exposed thigh. Dorothea cursed, in a way fit for a sellsword, not a renown diva. He liked that, liked she didn't conceal her anger behind some exalted platitudes. "Better concentrate on honing your dodging skills than the looseness of your tongue."

"Oh, I advise you to the contrary. How about I start teaching your tongue the subtleties of flirting? No? Feel better starting with conversational classics? Not interested?" Dorothea winked at him and landed a blow on his elbow. The force of the impact nearly knocked the Wo Dao out of his hand, but Felix fastly flung the sword into the other, already slashing at the dancer. Jabbing his sword forward, the swordsman slowly prevailed over the brunette. Dorothea's eyes narrowed as she grasped the imminent defeat though she did not yield. Good.

"Guess, we are at an impasse then." Feigning an attack on his right side, Dorothea jumped to the left, retreated to regenerate. Felix took advantage of the breathing space to adjust his stance, juggled the sword back into his weaker hand. A weakness he had to overcome to get stronger, faster; knowing it would never be enough to surpass what was out of reach.

Out of nowhere, Dorothea's face lit up with a genuine smile as she waved her hand at someone in his back. "Oh, Bern, finally you're here. Rescue me from this exhaustingly boring sparring round. And while you are at it, save me from Felix as well."

The diversionary manoeuvre worked just fine. Felix turned around to look out for Bernadetta, another weakness of him. It had required five years to discover and accept the archer was actually one, despite everyone around him rubbing it under his nose. Whether he would overcome this one, or even wanted to, might take the swordsman another five years to figure out.

However, there was no sign of Bernadetta. No matter, where his eyes darted, Felix could neither detect a hint of purple nor the woman herself. Instead, he felt the tinge of a slap as Dorothea playfully spanked his backside with the flat side of her blade. "Sweet Fe, you fell victim to one of the most classic blunders in the history of blunders. Never heard the phrase: ' _Never trust the song of a mockingbird_ '?"

"If you are so eager for a lesson, Arnault, I will teach you one."

"Pfft, you could not give me a lesson in cherry pit spitting, Fraldarius!" Dorothea exclaimed, swaying her hips to a rhythm of her own. "Oh, by the way, I could give you one in tying a cherry stem with your tongue."

Still whistling, the diva tried to grace his buttocks with yet another stroke of her sword. However, this time, Felix turned around and furiously cut through her crumbling defences. And like her defence, Dorothea's mirth fastly met the same fate, only to revert as Felix readied himself for the final blow. This time, a devious glint in the eyes accompanied her smile. "Hey, Bern! Just in time to see me shine."

"Pah, as if your ridiculous trick would work twice," Felix tsked at Dorothea's lousy attempt, determined to end their fight, their conversation and everything else.

"Thea! Felix!" Behind Felix, Bernadetta stumbled into the training ground. The unexpected entrance — well, he asked for her presence, so he knew that at some point she would appear — effectively drew his attention towards the bow knight and away from the dancer. A mistake, the latter pressed a blade against his throat. Not very chivalrous. Another thing, Felix liked about the songstress. Frankly, he would have done the same.

Sneakily, Dorothea leaned forwards and whispered into Felix's ear as to tell him a secret, batting her lashes in an innocence Felix highly doubted the songstress ever had possessed. "Oh, I merely required it to work once."

"Thea, that was spectacular," Bernadetta applauded as the vicious dancer bowed before her. "It's the first time I see you lose, Felix."

"You are late," Felix stated the obvious to evade the obvious. Meanwhile, Dorothea captured Bernadetta in an embrace and placed soft pecks on her cheeks. Producing some adorable squeals, Bernadetta apologetically smiled at him. "Are you done wasting my time? Bernadetta and I need to train because we are in a war, a trivial detail, I know."

"Come on, don't be such a saucy boy because you get no cuddles and kisses from Bern." Ostentatiously, the songstress kissed Bernadetta on her forehead, softly blowing the bangs away to expose the skin beneath, stifling all protest. Then, she smiled back at him.

Customarily smiles, specifically from Dorothea, always were an indicator for something wicked to come. In a way, they were a meretricious prelude to a drama in multiple acts, painstakingly arranged by someone who thought herself extremely witty. What else was to be expected of a diva when not some arbitrary drama?

"Sssh, Bern, should I tell you a secret? About Felix's super-secret weakness?" Dorothea bent over and whispered in an overly feigned conspirational tone, of course still loud enough for him to hear, a naughty shimmer in her emerald eyes.

"F-Felix has one?!" Bernadetta gazed horrified at him like she was late for dessert and Annette, Mercedes and Lysithea had eaten all sweets, including the heinous ones with peppermint and liquorice. An inconceivable thought for the archer. "Like, constantly worrying about tripping in battle, only to trip because you worry too much about it what makes you worry even more?"

"The two of you know I can hear you, right? And who worries about something trifle like that anyway?" Bernadetta did if the colour of her face was any indication. Ridiculous, he was always nearby to catch her.

"Hm, then how about Lysithea's cakes? Cats? Thigh-Highs?" From thereon, Bernadetta went into an unstoppable weakness-deduction mode, firing question after question, each new more strange than the last. "...How about petite yet incredible powerful women? Tall yet emotional men?"

"No to all of that nonsense." _Four fucking Saints_ , Felix could feel one of his veins pulsing in exasperation like his head was going to explode any second. Next to him, a certain songstress looked like exploding as well, only for the exact opposite reason. Alas, Seiros was not inclined to cause anyone to burst.

Piqued, Bernadetta gazed at Dorothea like the songstress had pulled a cruel prank on her, only that the joke was on Felix alone. "I assure you Felix possesses one. It's outrageous. It would be most unfortunate if an enemy knew about it."

Sweet as Bernadetta was, she did not notice the taunting undertone of her sly friend. Reassuringly, she reached for his dominant sword hand, wrapped both of her warm hands around it and squeezed. "Oh, I get it now! Don't worry, Bernie is there to assist you."

"Good Bern, listen carefully. Felix greatest weakness -"

"Is of no consequence," Felix interrupted the songstress, pressing a lance into the hands of a baffled Bernadetta. "And, now, I have to make up five years of reclusive neglection in a day. And it's already past midday."

"You can not know that!" Bernadetta cried out as she parried the first blow in five years. "I prepared myself mentally, quite intensively."

"We will determine the worth of your preparation then, little weakling." And if Felix had not been busy teaching his weakness to overcome hers, he would have taken notice of a diva leaving the training grounds in a histrionic outburst, slamming the doors and locking just these.

******

"It is...," Bernadetta fumbled at the heavy metallic rings, twisted and turned them, but the simple, indisputable fact remained indisputable: someone locked the door, and by that locked them up. Or were they looked out? Bernadetta supposed semantics of a door's duplicity would not change the fact they were trapped.

"It is locked." She gave the door, the first of its kind that utterly failed her with its functionality, a distraught glance.

"Are you sure?"

"Am I sure? Felix, you will never find a person more knowledgeable about doors and their workings in all of Fodlán," Bernadetta elucidated with her arms fluttering through the air like the wings of a wild Pegasus. "I am a professional shut-in, an eminent authority in the art of reclusiveness, a specialist in solitudinarian lifestyle. So, yes, I am fairly certain that this door is locked."

"Sure you are," Felix concluded. Whether he talked about her expertise of doors or reclusiveness remained a mystery. Felix's sentiments, on the other hand, were less enigmatic. His frown turned to anger, turned to curses before it vacillated between resignation and acceptance, peppered with typical felixesque annoyance. "Fine, seems like we stay for the night. Make yourself comfortable."

"N-Night? Comfortable? Only the two of us?" Bernadetta hated how thin and frail her voice sounded at the prospect of staying alone with the mortal savant. For the entire night, just the two of them. Felix and Bernadetta. Bernadetta and Felix. Strange bedmates, no matter how she arranged the names. And bedmates they would be, with no bed in sight.

"Unless the master recluse happens to be a master escapist too, we will spend the night together." Felix rubbed his neck and looked at his boots as if they told him something of great interest. Bernadetta suspected they were not so kind as to reveal to the swordsman how to open the doors. Or, for that matter, that he smiled and the tint of his cheeks mirrored the blushing sun when it set to meet the earth.

A warm feeling spread inside her stomach, like a stardust of fireflies decided to turn on their lights collectively, little lanterns flashed and swarmed out to light up every toe, every finger and every nerve until Bernadetta was aglow. Such eager little things.

"You don't think that somebody, _anybody_ , will miss us?! Surely, they will look for us in no time."

"Unlikely." Felix walked towards the armoury before he noticed that Bernadetta tarried behind him. One eyebrow questionable raised at her, Felix enlightened her. "Maybe we can find some dusty blankets in the armoury unless you think each other's warmth sufficient."

"R-Right, or we can find something to burn." Petra once had mentioned that she burned a dozen of old furniture. Maybe there was still some left to light up a pyre. It wasn't like the kingdom army was in dire need of pews, cribs or rocking chairs to stop imperial advances anyway. On the other hand, they had been most valuable for building up barricades when the monastery had been under siege half a decade ago. "Then someone will find us for sure."

"Well, it is an idea for sure." One Felix chuckled at, his lips on the verge of curling into that one gorgeous smile that always pierced right into her heart. Sadly, the azure-headed fighter was in far better control of his emotions, provided he had no silent conversations with footwear. "However, the fire might kill us, and all they will find will be some remarkably crispy remains."

"Fine, then no burning." Sadly, all of her igniting ideas had a tendency to went up in smoke. Aimlessly, Bernadetta sauntered around, waited for Felix to find a goldmine of plushy bedding for an entire battalion.

Soon, Felix found a paper-thin blanket covered in the dust of a millennium, yellowed and holey like a piece of cheese. So much for her expectations going up into smoke. Bernadetta wagered that maybe Seiros herself had placed it at this exact spot for some unfortunate souls trapped in the inhospitable place. "Come on, Bernadetta. It's not that bad resting under the firmament with Cethleann's gentle smile watching over our sleep."

Doubtfully, Bernadetta looked at the sickle shape of the translucent moon glimmering softly with the lustrous shine of sea pearls, patiently waiting for the sun to set. "Ugh, I don't know. The endless sky scares me."

Mutely, Felix gazed at her while knocking off the dust from the holey blanket. Oh Bernie, why in the name of the great goddess did you have to say something so weak? So stupid, so dumb, so..., so _Bernie_.

"I'm too guarding over your sleep, Bernadetta." The anxious noble forgot to breathe as Felix's honeyed promise went straight to her heart. Like eating cake, sorbets and candy galore. The good ones, rich in flavour and of soft consistency. Well, the sweetness of Felix's words left them all behind, painted them dull and bland. Taking her by a sugar-shocked hand, the mortal savant gently guided her to the centre of the arena and laid out the blanket. Unclasping his cloak, Felix started to fold the fabric into the resemblance of a pillow.

"You do that quite routinely," Bernadetta remarked as Felix halved his cloak, shooked it out and divided it again. Which prompted the question of how often Felix Hugo Fraldarius got stuck at the training ground in the middle of the night. And more importantly, with whom?

"I was a squire once and a soldier now. What good would I be at both of these professions if I would be unable to make a bed by now? War has a permanent shortage of good bedding, or, for that matter, servants who fluff out your pillows." Felix shook it all off like fluffing out some pillows. "Well, it's neither satin nor silk, but I guess it's better than nothing. You can make yourself bed ready, right? Or do you need a helping hand for that as well?"

"..., Yes? I mean no, er, yes, I can take care of myself!" Though she needed a hint for her mind went blank. Maybe the fireflies in her head were to blame, their lights to bright to see words. "Wait, are you teasing me right now?"

"Only a bit." In fascination, Bernadetta watched Felix undress. He started by loosening his leathern pauldron from his shoulder before he unbuttoned his asymmetrical jacket. "If you stare like that, little weakling, I get the feeling you want to give me a helping hand."

_Sweet Seiros, Gentle Chetleann._

"You look quite..., _proficient_ on your own." Clumsily, Bernadetta fumbled at her gloves while starring at the mortal savant and his undressing ritual, which more or less consisted of retrieving and sorting differently sized weapons.

First, Felix unbelted the two swords at his hip, laid them neatly at his side, ready to draw them any second. He shook off both boots, only to recover two, no three daggers. Next, he removed the gloves and fished two stilettos out of puffy sleeves. Long, thin and lightweight, they almost looked like needles, only that they would never pierce through embroidery or create a stuffed toy. No, their field of application was quite the contrary.

Tugging at his hair, Felix revealed a skean-dhu which had to be the smallest one Bernadetta had ever seen. At maximum, it was as long as her pinky. She doubted not that the weapon was as deadly as its companions in Felix's hands. Finally, Felix sat down, his copper eyes expectantly looking at her.

"Did you not forget one? Eight daggers seem quite modest for you."

Felix did forget one. Unlikely as it was, another small skean-dhu hid beyond the swordsman's waistband. In which situation he planned to make use of the thing was beyond Bernadetta. Accurately he placed the metal next to the other weapons where they glowed like Lysithea's magic, one side golden as the sun, the other silver like the moon.

"Come, I promise that I carry no more weapons to prick you." Bernadetta knew what Felix did not; he did need no weapon to do so. Her skin prickled by his presence alone.

Expectantly, Felix patted on the spot next to him, inviting her to his improvised bed. Beneath Bernadetta, the sand crunched as she clumsily plunged on her knees, her jelly legs not able to hold her weight any longer. The fireflies in her body buzzed and whirred inside her as she fell. Fell into the warrior's lap.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything indecent by it, I swear!" Embarrassed Bernadetta whipped back, feeling gravity's greedy hand pulling her towards the ground. Maybe, if she hit her head hard enough to faint, she would spare herself further humiliation. However, before Bernadetta could hit the ground, Felix wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back into the safety of his arms.

"Hm, the thought never crossed my mind. Although I have to admit, I am curious what indecencies swirl inside your head," the mortal savant grumbled lowly, his thumb drawing circles on the canvas of her neck. Oh, how her skin prickled and shivered as a dozen fireflies rushed to his touch. Felix misinterpreted her shiver and offered her his jacket. "Here, take this. I would hate for you to catch a cold on my watch, little weakling."

"Thank you." Bernadetta snuggled her face into the azure cloth, tried not to inhale the intoxicating scent of iron, cedar and salt too obviously. Gradually, the archer sunk back into the matching pillow and lolled in the scented softness that belonged to Felix.

A burst of colour spread along her face as she felt Felix bedding his head right beside her. "One coin of gold for your improper thoughts."

"I'm not having indecent thoughts!" Bernadetta screeched and threw a part of Felix's jacket over him, only to stifle a peal of laughter as a sleeve slapped against his face.

"Fine, then I guess it was a foolish one" this time, Bernadetta tugged at the jacket to have the cloth all to herself. However, Felix held to his shred of warmth. The warrior moved closer until his cheek glued to hers, and his eyes levelled with hers. Now, her thoughts were foolish, verging on indecent for sure. Or was it the other way round?

"Here, see these three brighter stars align?" Felix pointed vaguely at the sky, tracing an invisible seam of twinklers, or however one called those shiny things in the sky. He had mentioned it a second before, but words were hard to grasp, and the fireflies flew away, leaving them in the dark.

"Hmhm...," Bernadetta mumbled as Felix stopped his explanation, waiting for a response. Soothed, the mortal savant went on. More interesting than some distant stars, Bernadetta thought, was the handsome man next to her. Felix's face glowed with boyish enthusiasm, a precious spectacle akin to spotting a shooting star.

Only that this particular one, whirled around and shot a glance at Bernadetta, the tip of Felix's nose nudging hers. And was that a blush creeping along his cheeks? "Hey, you're supposed to look at the stars, not stare at me."

"I wasn't starring!" Bernadetta hastily denied the evident truth and turned her face to the sky, wishing for the moment to continue. "Please, I want to know more about those two, er, three stars."

"Fine, but I will keep an eye on you, Varley." Felix puffed his warm breath into her ear, his lips not far from touching her prickling ear. For the second time, he misunderstood the shiver and pushed his arm under her back. Pulling her closer to his chest, Felix fixed the jacket underneath Bernadetta, cocooning her in pleasant warmth.

"See these stars?" Again, Felix pointed his finger at the sky, and this time Bernadetta followed the guidance. "This is the constellation of the wolf."

Bernadetta couldn't see any wolf in the sky. It was just an accumulation of illuminated, crushed crystals dusted on an amethyst canvas. "Why is it called like that? It doesn't' seem very..., _wolfish_ to me."

"You have to look more closely. See, this is the wolf's snout, and there is the tail." Slowly, Felix pointed at each of the stars, outlining the silhouette of a howling wolf. "It's the same wolf as illustrated on the Fraldarius' sigil."

Bernadetta tried to recall Felix's sigil and match it with the constellation above her. At first, Bernadetta thought of the prominent Aegis Shield, silver on an azure ground with the Sword of Moralta dividing the Shield into two parts. One side displayed a pegasus, wings spread majestically, to honour the family's founder. And on the other side, a fierce wolf graced the sigil, now Bernadetta remembered. "So, House Fraldarius even owns some stars now?"

"Kyphon named the constellation. Or at least, this is what ' _The Sword of Kyphon_ ' tells us _._ " Felix shrugged it off as if owning a star, no an entire constellation, was one of the most ordinary things to own. "Do you want me to tell you the story?"

Vigorously Bernadetta nodded, so much that she nearly crushed her cheek into Felix's nose. Anticipating some of her antics, Felix dodged by holding her chin right before she could meet his nose. "Fine, then no more attacks on the storyteller."

Bernadetta wanted to nod again. However, Felix still held her by the chin, stroking the jawbone tentatively with a thumb while he started his narration.

What followed was a wild ride through flaming plot holes, exaggerations and rhetorical derangements like Bernadetta had never anticipated possible. Felix pushed her from the cliffs of insanity into the depths of hysteria. They wandered the delirious forest and crossed the tundra of absurdity. Blood, blades and battles, all these things cramped together to compose a story as flat as the ground they laid on. It might well be that Felix Hugo Fraldarius told her the most horrible piece of fiction in the history of fictional stories.

The most strange thing about all of it? Felix loved the terrible story, loved it with all his heart, and thought it to be a genuine chronicle of Kyphon's life. And now, Felix stared at her, eager to know her opinion on the entire narration. Somehow, Bernadetta highly doubted ' _mentally scarred for the rest of her life_ ' was a viable option.


End file.
